Implantable medical devices, such as cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices, can be used to monitor, detect, or treat various cardiac conditions that can result in a reduced ability of a heart to sufficiently deliver blood to a body. In some cases, heart conditions may lead to rapid, irregular, or inefficient heart contractions, etc. To alleviate one or more of these conditions, various medical devices can be implanted in a patient's body to monitor heart activity or to provide electrical stimulation to optimize or control contractions of the heart.
Traditional cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices, such as pacemakers or defibrillators, include subcutaneous devices implanted in a chest of a patient, having one or more leads to position one or more electrodes or other sensors at various locations in the heart, such as in one or more of the atria or ventricles. In certain examples, the one or more leads can include a pressure sensor positioned in the heart and coupled to the CRM device through a conductor in the lead. Separate from, or in addition to, the one or more electrodes or other sensors of the leads, the CRM device can include one or more electrodes or other sensors (e.g., a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a microphone, etc.) powered by a power source in the CRM device. The one or more electrodes or other sensors of the leads, the CRM device, or a combination thereof, can be configured detect physiologic information from, or provide one or more therapies or stimulation to, the patient.
For example, the CRM device or the one or more leads can include an acoustic sensor, such as an accelerometer, a microphone, or one or more other acoustic sensors configured to detect body sounds from a patient, such as cardiac murmurs, respiratory sounds, heart sounds, mitral regurgitation, mitral stenosis, or other body sounds. The body sounds, or other physiologic information, can be used to diagnose one or more physiologic conditions, provide an alert, or to control one or more therapies.
However, implantable CRM devices typically require an incision in the chest to implant the device in a pocket under the skin, which, in certain examples, can become infected, reduce mobility near the implant site, migrate, or leave a scar or lump where the device is implanted. Further, leads positioned in the heart may cause complications, becoming dislodged, breaking, migrating, or even perforating the heart.
Leadless cardiac pacemakers (LCP) have developed that can detect physiologic information from or provide one or more therapies or stimulation to the heart without traditional lead or implantable CRM device complications. Such LCP devices are typically small, self-contained devices (e.g., smaller than traditional implantable CRM devices), and in certain examples, having more limited power and processing capabilities than a traditional CRM device.
In certain examples, multiple LCP devices can be implanted in the heart to detect physiologic information from, or provide one or more therapies or stimulation to, one or more chambers of the heart. The multiple LCP devices can communicate between themselves, or one or more other implanted or external devices.